


Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten

by seasonal_obsessions



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Dyslexia, Fluff, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Not Beta Read, Self Confidence Issues, can be read as platonic or pre-relationship Parrmour, dyslexic!Jane Seymour, unless you count grammarly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:09:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24380344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonal_obsessions/pseuds/seasonal_obsessions
Summary: It takes reaching adulthood twice for Jane Seymour to find out she is dyslexic
Relationships: Catherine Parr & Jane Seymour, Catherine Parr/Jane Seymour
Comments: 17
Kudos: 86





	Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten

**Author's Note:**

> Self-indulgent fic because dyslexic!Jane just needed to be written, I don't make the rules. Neither do I own the characters, they belong to SIX creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss.  
> The title is from the lyrics of Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten, heard that song way too much while I was writing this.

She came from a noble family, albeit not a prominent one, but yes, she could've had a formal education even back then. Except Jane never enjoyed her reading and writing lessons, she'd much rather work on her embroidery, and such womanly duties were preferred at the time. A lot has changed since then, and yet Jane, here in the 21st century, still doesn't like reading more than she used too.

Sighing, she drops the book on the kitchen table. She places her hand to the centre of the page. Maybe if her finger follows the lines she'll be able to focus enough to finish this paragraph. Catherine's old writing is full of the complex flourish that was so popular at the time, and the words keep tangling in Jane's head.

“Not quite to your taste?”

As if summoned, Catherine Parr appears at the dining room's door. Jane startles by the sound of her voice and blinks up at her; it's odd to see anyone home so early in the afternoon.

“—Sorry, what?”

Catherine drops her backpack in the chair in front of Jane's and proceeds to take off her coat. Smiling, she answers, “the book. Pretty outdated, I imagine”

Oh, she must have been glaring at _The Lamentation of a Sinner_ a bit too hard then.

“Anna and Catalina seemed to like it anyway” Jane reassuring smile suddenly turns sheepish, “I... haven't gotten far enough to say”

“Do you mind if I join you?” when Jane shakes her head Cathy sits down and pulls out a book from her backpack. After that, they both remain quiet.

Jane finds herself taken aback by the comfortable silence between them. It's a pleasant surprise; after all, they aren't that close. They don't normally spend time together, apart from the shows and the rehearsals (well, at least not alone, sometimes they do hang out with Catalina together). Maybe that's why Jane, despite her unliterary tendencies, decided to read the other queen's book in the first place, to get to know her better. Writing had been an important part of who Catherine was in her past life, which she reminded everyone when she sang on the stage.

…Jane might be the last to take this into account; apparently, the rest of the queens had already read it.

Minutes go by, the silence only broken by the sound of Cathy turning pages. Jane begins to feel a little self-conscious, Catherine is such an avid reader and she still hasn't finished the page she was reading when the other queen arrived. Out of some self-imposed pressure, she tries to read faster. But the more she hurries, the blurrier the words get; letters fussing together beyond recognition, and she has to give up and start that sentence again, _and **again**_. A headache is beginning to form behind her eyes. Suddenly, she closes the book and stands up from her seat.

“I'm going to the kitchen to make some tea, do you want anything?”

“I'll have some coffee” Cathy replies, glancing up from her book, “if we still have any”

“It was Anne's turn to do the groceries this week, wasn't it?” Jane says with an amused smile as she puts the kettle on, “where do you guys keep this stuff?”

“Top left cabinet”

“Hmm... I can't see any”

“Let me see", Catherine walks up to the cupboard, "—oh. It’s this other one”, she notes before opening the left cabinet’s door.

Stupid.

“I sort— eh, sorry I… must've not been paying attention”, Jane mumbles, subtly averting her eyes.

“Don't feel like you have to apologize. It's fairly common for people with dyslexia to confuse left and right”, Jane is giving Cathy a perplexed look, so she continues, “Oh, I thought you knew? It happens to you sometimes, like when they teach us new dances or when you're driving and we give you directions”

“But that's just… me, messing up”, Jane replies confused, “because I'm not paying enough attention”

“No, no it's fine” Jane dismisses it quickly, trying to seem nonchalant as she shakes her off. She didn't know all her little slips were that obvious, shit. “I guess I just need to make an effort haha...”

“Jane you're the most dedicated person I ever met, if you're not making an effort then no one is” Catherine states firmly

Jane looks at Cathy's serious expression and gives herself a moment to consider, to really think about it. What if all of it, reading, writing, memorizing; what if it wasn't as difficult for everyone else as it was for her? She thinks of her teachers, of all the times she heard “you are smart Jane, but you need to apply yourself more” or when she would get scolded, how they said that she needed to stop being ditsy or lazy to pass their class; and she always thought they were right, thought “I'm not trying hard enough”. Dyslexia …it makes _sense_. That's why she makes spelling mistakes no matter how thoughtful she is, why reading takes so long, and sometimes the letters seem to blur. Did she even need her reading glasses? Everything the same and somehow it feels like her whole world shifted, just a little, and at last the picture's properly framed.

The noise of the boiling kettle breaks her out of her thoughts. She finally answers, voice barely above a breath, “…is it not meant to be that hard?”

Catherine shakes her head; she's staring at her with sympathetic eyes. Oh, she must look like a mess and over such a little thing.

“Were you never diagnosed?”

“No, I mean, I always… struggled with it but I thought it was normal, you know? So I never said anything”, Jane rambles, trying to explain. And even though she thinks she's not making any sense, she doesn't feel foolish at all because Cathy's there, leaning against the kitchen counter, listening attentively and nodding along like she knows exactly what Jane means, “how did you notice?”

“Your handwriting was a bit of a giveaway.” Jane slaps Cathy's shoulder lightly and they both giggle.

They make themselves their drinks and move back to the kitchen table. Sipping her coffee, Catherine stretches her arm across the table; she absentmindedly traces one of the edges of the book's cover with her fingertips. It’s an old edition, not from way back when she wrote it, but close. She wonders if they kept all her words intact or if she would even be able to tell if they changed them, after all this time.

“I think I want to read this.”

Jane puts down her teacup and moves to hand her the book, “Oh sure, here let me—”

“Do you mind if I start back from the beginning? I know you said you were only a few pages in, but I’d like to reread the entire thing”

"I don't…? —Cathy, you don't have to", Jane stutters a bit ashamed.

"I want to."

And Jane can't help but believe Cathy's being sincere, because her voice is warm and she's looking at her with kind eyes. Trying not to feel overwhelmed, she answers with a small tentative smile, "I guess it will be just like listening to an audiobook?"

Cathy returns her smile fully, "and with the author's exclusive comments too."

Then she turns to the page and starts reading aloud.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally done! First thing I written in a long time so I hope you didn't set your expectations too high haha, STILL I'm happy with this and hope you enjoyed it as well.  
> Your validation gives me life and constructive criticism is very much appreciated, so please comment or leave kudos down below


End file.
